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Archive 2015 · Haystack Rock- 1st post in MANY years...

  
 
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Haystack Rock- 1st post in MANY years...


Hello all, I have been away from photography forums for many years but I returned today to read up on some topics of interest. I don't want to start a debate but I'm researching GND...but that'a another thread.

Anyhow, thought I'd post a popular, photographed scene, one I took about 5 yrs. ago. I haven't done much landscape photography in the past several years and I want to begin shooting landscapes again. I live near the ocean and a lake so I have no excuses, which is also why I'm looking at GND, etc...

After poking around the forum the past few hours I'm impressed with the quality of work here.

Thanks, Paul
http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-fxj8DLR/0/L/i-fxj8DLR-L.jpg



May 27, 2015 at 11:19 PM
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Haystack Rock- 1st post in MANY years...


Welcome back.
That is a nice scene. It has different style of color balance but I like the effect.

David



May 28, 2015 at 09:21 AM
JimFox
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Haystack Rock- 1st post in MANY years...


Hey Paul,

Welcome back! That is a pretty cool shot, perhaps a bit blown in the sky but cool still.

As for ND grads, there is nothing to worry about in a debate. It's quite simple, if you want to use ND Grads then use them. If you prefer to bracket and blend with a layer mask, then do that. If you want to bracket and use HDR, then go for that too. You will find many of us use multiple methods depending on the situation. Myself, I never leave home without my ND grads but I most often will simply use a simple layer mask when I am processing. There is no right or wrong method.

Jim



May 28, 2015 at 09:32 AM
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Haystack Rock- 1st post in MANY years...


Thank you for the comments and critiques, gentlemen. It was a tough image to process for me as the contrast was minimal, lot's of "localized curves" in post.

Jim, I agree with your comments. I'm from the school of thought of using all tools available to allow the final print to represent what the creator envisioned.

Because I've spent many hours lugging around medium and large format camera's back in the day, I'm personally for getting it as "right" as I can in camera (with filters) and then finishing off in post production.

I've never used GND but I'm about to invest in the Lee system along w/ the big stopper. I live near a lake and the ocean so I'm intrigued at the idea of movement within the landscape. So many amazing portraits in this forum of long exposures and landscapes.



May 28, 2015 at 10:51 AM
JimFox
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Haystack Rock- 1st post in MANY years...


If you are going to be shooting at the ocean, my #1 grad is called a Reverse ND Grad. It's the perfect grad for shooting at the beach. It's thicker along the horizon so as the sun is setting it helps compensate for it. Singh Ray sells the best ones out there, but Hi-Tech sells a cheaper version of it too. I would recommend a 2 stop Reverse ND Grad. With the Dynamic Range we have in todays camera's a 3 stop grad is just too much. In fact, with the great DR in the D800's I actually bought a 1 stop ND grad just to help get that 1 extra stop of light balanced. Call me crazy, but it works very well.

Jim



May 28, 2015 at 02:04 PM
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Haystack Rock- 1st post in MANY years...


Hi Jim,
You make some great suggestions, thank you. To bad I placed my order w/ B&H prior to reading this. For now I went with the Lee, soft GND set and a .9 GND along with the big stopper and a new polarizer. Hopefully the .9 won't be overkill. I went with the hard GND .9 for the ocean portraits in mind... It's hard to pre-guess the affects of the filters without trying them out.

I tend to shoot on the somewhat wide side and being that I live on an island in a temperate rain forest 90% of my images will contain Evergreen trees, ferns, lakes or ocean, fog and rock.

I suspect the reverse - GND will be on an upcoming purchase, it makes a lot of sense. I'm looking forward to playing!

I see your in Orange County. I lived in Ca. for 23 years, left the Bay area 5 years ago and ended up north of the boarder. A little different pace of life up here but I'm still in the work force.



May 28, 2015 at 05:38 PM
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Haystack Rock- 1st post in MANY years...


The nice thing with BHPhoto is you can just return it, I shoot the beach all the time and stopped using 3 stops maybe 5 years ago or so. Try it when you get yours in. If it works for you, awesome. But I suspect you will think the sky is too dark for the ground/water layer.

Calif is a cool state, I really like it here. The variation in landscape is amazing. But it sounds like you are now in a cool area, I look forward to seeing your work from there.

Jim



May 29, 2015 at 07:05 AM





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